What happened to the 303 British?

Supposedly Ruger is chambering their No. 1 single shot in .303 British, if you want something different. You'd probably have to order it. Sooner or later they'll probably get around to .303 Savage, too, which would also be different.

Also, supposedly, the No. 4 rifle in .303 is still on issue to a Canadian militia regiment in the far north of Canada. It is a true militia unit in that their uniforms consist of little more than a jacket with their name, though they have issue equipment. They patrol the northern borders of the country, which presumably someone else wants.

Rifles in .303 are probably still in the inventory in India and probably Pakistan and Bangladesh, although India manufactured SMLE's in 7.62mm even after we had quit making M14s. Great Britain had planned to convert their stock of Lee-Enfields to 7.62mm but I believe very few were actually converted.
 
Supposedly Ruger is chambering their No. 1 single shot in .303 British, if you want something different. You'd probably have to order it. Sooner or later they'll probably get around to .303 Savage, too, which would also be different.
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http://www.ruger.com/products/no1LightSporter/specSheets/11348.html

I really doubt that you will see a number one in .303 Savage as that round never caught on and its difficult to find ammo for.. Now the No. 1 in 300 H&H.. I could adopt one of those pretty easily...:D
 
.303

The Taliban in Helmand province seem to like the .303 SMLEs. See NY Times
September 15, 2010, 12:44 pm
What’s Inside a Taliban Gun Locker?
By C.J. CHIVERS
 
Realizing this thread is 4 years old, but the reason the .303 never caught on here is the same reason the .30-06 never caught on in the UK. Dad, or granddad, or great-granddad used it in the war, so when he got a hunting rifle, that is what he got, and passed down his preference to his kids.

The surplus ammo is long gone, and commercial ammo is generally more expensive than the common .30 loads. The problem for the handloader is that the selection of .311-.312 bullets is much smaller than the more common .308, and because the cartridge headsapces on the rim, and military rifles generally have pretty generous chambers, case life sucks unless you neck size only. And while my #5 is a fun little rifle to shoot, it is hard on softpoint bullets: the points tend to get deformed. From what I read from other owners, this is pretty common.
 
1942 Longbranch

I have a 1942 No4 I bought when I was a teenager on the recommendation of my grandfather - $70, almost mint. I hunted with it for decades. Great sights, great bolt, decent cartridge. Now that my eyes are not as good as they used to be, I really need a 4x scope on it, but I can't bring myself to remove the back sight!

The rear sight is graduated to over 2000 yards. I can only imagine the level of marksmanship they used to train the average "Tommy" for.
 
BlueTrain:
If anybody out there can find "National Geographic" magazines from '96-97, look up the article on the (Inuit?) tribes in the far north of Canada.

The hunter is photographed standing about ten feet from his snowmobile.
The single shot from his Enfield #4 kills the huge polar bear, which is about 100 feet away.
These guys patroling the border were Issued these WW2/Korean-vintage rifles in the 90s, and maybe later!

I'm glad that Enfields are maybe less popular; no more cheap surplus ammo, and if (reliable?) surplus is found, it costs about what reloadable Prvi costs.
This reduced popularity allowed me to buy five Non-sporter. Enfields in the last two years at decent prices.:)
 
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We might have a copy of that National Geographic. I'll look tonight. An equally interesting photo from a few years ago in the National Geo was of some man in Mongolia or western China riding along way, way out on the plains and armed with a folding stock shotgun.
 
303

I was a Gander Mountain yesterday they had 2 303 enfields. one was priced at like $275 the other was $375. I all most got one. I hunted with one when I was much young. Dead on accurate. Shot a buck at 125 yds with open sites. hit just behind the shoulder. the deer ran about 20 yds and dropped. My longest shot and longest drag out of the truck.
 
It's not just loaded ammo that has dried up. None of my local suppliers for reloading components carry .311" bullets any more. I now have to mail order them. Not a big problem but I do miss the convenience.

Tony
 
they are still a few around but the best ones have been bought up years ago. I dont have one, but have been kind of craving one.
 
The rear sight is graduated to over 2000 yards. I can only imagine the level of marksmanship they used to train the average "Tommy" for.
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So were the sights on the M1903, M1898 and the Russian M91, I believe. The idea was not to hit something specific, but a platoon of riflemen firing a volley at something that far away might make it less than fun to be where the bullets are raining down.
 
I've been hunting with a sporterized No. 4 Mk I Long Branch 1943, since about age 12. I've killed lots of deer and wild hogs with it. Very accurate and little recoil. On a side note every type of animal in Africa has been killed with a .303 including hundreds if not thousands of elephants.
001-3.jpg
 
I have a 303 that was given to me that was made in 1919 :D

The only thing wrong with it is that the bolt is hard to pull back after firing (gun smith checked it and said it was okay...).

Thinking about getting a new stock because the original is getting a little rickety.
 
It's a good action...which lends itself to custom rifles.
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What, exactly, is good about stretching brass due to a springy rear-locking action?

The only thing wrong with it is that the bolt is hard to pull back after firing
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Uh-huh.

It did, IIRC, have interchangeable bolt-heads, to fix head-space issues without turning the barrel ....... meh-bee because of the springy action?
 
carprivershooter:
Did those Gander Mt. Enfields have really good bores/rifling, and matching bolts for the list prices?

I suppose that they had original full-length stocks and sights, or were these 'sporterized? Just curious, because I thought that Gander's only classic milsurps were MNs and a few Yugo Mausers.

The book on Enfield #4s, #5s just arrived: Vol 2, third edition.
The author is Charles Stratton, in case somebody needs anything to be checked. Am just a novice.
 
What, exactly, is good about stretching brass due to a springy rear-locking action?
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Can you document this famous internet rumor, please?
How was the "spring" measured, how much give was there?
Here's my brass, New, once fired & resized & reloaded, where is the stretch you speak of?:)
newfiredresized.jpg
 
SMLE Production

The Ishapore Rifle Factory in India (built by the British c.1905) was still producing the SMLE, at least into the early 1990s (maybe still?), in .303 British, 7.62, and .410. In the telecast news coverage aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attack (2008), I saw several Indian police carrying SMLEs, but no idea what the chambering was. I have an unissued Ishapore Nr1 MkIII* (.303) built in 1987.
 
Here's my brass, New, once fired & resized & reloaded, where is the stretch you speak of?
Click to expand...

Well, the shoulder has been moved forward quite a bit between "new" and "once fired".

This doesn't have anything to do with a springy bolt though, but a generous chamber. As the round headspaces on the rim, it really doesn't matter, but plays hell with your brass if you full length resize. Neck sizing brass tends to last a lot longer.

This isn't exactly an unknown phenomenon, both my Hornady and Sierra manuals mention it.
 
Reshaped yes, moved forward not. Nice try though.:)
The Mk 1's definitely had "generous chambers" I'll give you that but not the #4 Mk2.
 
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